Alaska Teems With Vacation Options.

• Author: SAUNDERS, STACEY

Asked how Alaskans like to spend their summer vacations, Faron Owen, executive director of Kenai Peninsula Tourism Marketing Council, responded "Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing..." But even the diehards eventually put down their rods for other activities.

Owen surmises that after fishing, Alaskans favor hiking and camping, recreational boating, romantic week end getaways, history and cultural centers, events and festivals, and glacier cruises. The Kenai Peninsula, Mat-Su Valley, Anchorage, Interior and Prince William Sound offer residents a variety of vacation activities.

Close to Anchorage is the Mat-Su Valley and Kenai Peninsula. "(From Anchorage) you get into your car and one hour later you're out playing in the Valley. Or you follow a RV two-and-a-half hours to Seward," said Ed Brittingham, executive director of the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce.

A 1990 study revealed that 50 percent of visitors to the Kenai Peninsula were Alaska residents. Eighty percent of Anchorage residents visited the peninsula with an average of 4.3 trips per year. A 1999 Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau economic impact study found that one half of Alaskans visit Palmer and Wasilla, with Big Lake being the third most-visited community. Alaskans return to the Valley as frequently as six times during the summer and favor visiting attractions, sightseeing and fishing. "There's so much to do. Why would you want to go anywhere else?" Brittingham says.

Fishing

There is a joke that work is for people who don't know how to fish. In Anchorage, go to downtown Ship Creek and find residents fishing-after work. Others arise before dawn and take to the highway so that they can be the first to reach their favorite fishing holes. The birthplace of "combat fishing" must be the Kenai and Russian rivers, where anglers stand shoulder-to-shoulder trying to hook salmon and not each other. Mark Reilly, of Reilly's Guided Services in Kasilof, admires the guides who navigate the state's busiest fishery. "It can be a zoo on the lower Kenai River. But the guides do a good job running (boats) close together. It's amazing."

Reilly estimates that Alaskans comprise 60 percent to 70 percent of his clientele. They often bring visiting relatives, friends and business associates eager for kings, silvers and reds. "Locals enjoy fishing on the Kasilof because it's less crowded, scenic and more relaxed since there are no power boats," says Reilly. After 14 years, he has developed two...